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Your Golf Travel.com has reported another record performance in 2011 with sales for the London business rising by 35 per cent to £35m.
Against a background of austerity, the company’s chief executive, Ross Marshall, paid tribute to his staff for an “Olympian effort” in delivering remarkable growth in both revenues and customers, results which further underline the company’s status as Europe’s largest golf travel retailer.
The operator witnessed a 32 per cent increase in new customers and results were further buoyed by additional demand for overseas golf holidays and a jump in average consumer spend.
Bookings to the US were almost 200 per cent up, while visitors to Spain rose by 63 per cent. The average spend on an overseas trip improved by 14.5 per cent, fuelled by demand for longer stays and an increase in popularity for long-haul and exotic golf destinations.
Closer to home there were notable performances from Ireland – which saw revenue growth of 43 per cent – and England, where bookings rose by 33 per cent.
Your Golf Travel.com’s director of product – Andrew Smith – regarded the results as vindication for the company’s policy of offering the very best value for money: “At a time when household inflation is approaching five per cent, the like-for-like cost of our holidays increased by just one per cent in 2011 and this has had a huge impact in retaining existing customers and attracting new business.
“We are particularly encouraged with the 49 per cent growth in our international holiday sector. We have made significant investments in trade licences, personnel and expanding our US and long-haul portfolios, and the performance in these areas demonstrates that even in the current economic climate, there is demand for that premium golfing experience.
“The only downside was the inevitable decrease in business to Tunisia and Egypt, due to political unrest, but we have seen substantial growth to new resorts in Morocco, which has the potential to blossom into an outstanding golf destination.”
Marshall added: “We are delighted that the company has been able to deliver another year of significant growth by providing great levels of service, combined with fantastic pricing for all our customers. This is what kept golfers on the fairways throughout 2011.
“Thanks to an Olympian effort from our team, the business has now firmly established itself as Europe’s largest golf travel retailer and our other group brands have also grown significantly and traded with distinction.
“Encouragingly we have started 2012 with two consecutive record weeks showing nearly 50 per cent year-on-year increases in sales. So regardless of the continued tough economic outlook, we are focused on maintaining these levels of growth throughout the year.
“We are also very excited about the launch of some new sister brands as well as developing our existing ones further."
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
